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This invention relates generally to vehicles that use the wind to provide locomotive power and in particular to portable wind catching devices to provide locomotive power for personally powered transportation vehicles such as a kayak, canoe, skis, ice skates, rollerblades and skateboards.
Wind power has been used for centuries to provide locomotive power for boats, ice skimmers, and land vehicles. Typically, these vehicles have been large, e.g., a sail boat, have a mast or boom rigidly affixed to the vehicle, and require additional hardware and ropes in order to properly hold and orient the sail to catch the wind. Sails have also been used on small personal powered vehicles such as a kayak, canoe, skis, rollerblades and skateboards to catch the wind to provide additional locomotive power. However, these personal powered vehicles typically do not come equipped with a permanently affixed mast or boom or the additional hardware and ropes that are necessary to effectively use a sail. These small personal powered vehicles typically have had additional mounting blocks permanently attached to it in order to mount a mast, boom, and any additional hardware needed to properly hold and orient the sail to catch the wind.
It would be advantageous therefore to provide a portable sail type device that did not have to be permanently mounted or affixed to the personal powered vehicle in order to catch the wind and provide additional locomotive power thereto.
A personal wind power device is disclosed that includes at least one sail frame assembly firmly, yet removably, coupled to a shaft. The sail frame assembly includes a base that is coupled to the shaft and that has first and second boom arms pivotally attached to it. A sail is affixed between the first and second boom arms and the boom arms may be in a first stored position, in which the sail is not deployed, or in a second deployed position, in which the sail is firmly held in a deployed position and is able to catch the wind. A latch that is biased into a normally closed position by biasing element forms a locking mechanism. The latch is pivotally attached to the base and the biasing element is arranged between the base and a portion of the latch. When in the normally closed position, the latch urges the locking mechanism into a stopped orientation in which, in one embodiment, the locking mechanism compresses a cord attached to the boom arms and sail to prevent movement thereof. When the latch is moved into the open position, the locking mechanism releases the cord and the boom arms and the sail are able to move into the deployed position, or are able to be retracted into the closed position.
Other features, aspects and advantages of the abovedescribed method and system will be apparent from the detailed description of the invention that follows.